I was at school the other day, when i was performing supersonic (excellent trick, gets unbelievable reactions) when i got the end, got some gasps and lots of good reactions, when this kid approached me after words and was all like "i know how you did that" so i was like really? he said "you did one of those 'force' things"

so i said no (feeling the heat)

hes like fine, show me a trick, so following the advice about trying to floor hecklers with an awesome efect, i started, and was getting ready to control his card to the top when he grabed my hand and saw the inky break and he smiled and said "AHAAAA" and i tried to play it off but he wouldnt listen to me

so now every time i see him, he keeps threatening me with exposure if i dont give him gum, or stuff like that, he wants me to show him how all my tricks are done, or he said he'll tell. obviously, im not going to tell, b ut hes already told 4 people "becareful where you put your card back, he puts hs finger in there to mark it". luckily these people he told dont like him, and didnt listen to him, but he will make good on his threats, i know its out of jeaously, he gets pissed off when you call him names and he is one of the most competitve people you will ever meet

definitely don't lose your cool... in fact don't even let it bother you... if it doesn't bother you he has nothing... just ignore it and so what if he tells a few people... he's deminishing his credability and displaying how little of a person they are.

I know how a lot of magic is done... step by step... but I still love seeing it performed.... and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Like Wayno said... learn some new stuff, don't sweat it and be cool. Its not the end of the world and in order to be blackmailed... you have display care.... remove that and he's got nothing... whether or not it really does is another thing.. but they get bored if there's no rooster crowing.

it sucks, but there will always be people like him. if i were you i would do something to leave him stunned. and if he keeps heckling give him the cards and ask him to do something since he knows so much. good luck

Oh...my...God. He wants gum, or the magic secret gets it. Extortion is a federal crime, contact the FBI.

Well, obviously, the advise to "show the heckler up", that is so popular here in Penguintown, worked well here . Maybe you should add the "punch the kid" advice to your routine and things will only get better.

Seriously, though, you really need to ignore this kid and not do magic with him around. If he continues to be a jerk, then the problem is not really a magic performance problem, as much as a "how do I deal with my peers in school" problem.

Wayno's advice to learn some different sleights is good, but it may require some patience and a willingness to do fewer effects until you know more. But you could learn some good controls from Royal Road to Card Magic, like the Hindu shuffle control and the overhand shuffle control, neither of which require a break. Also, if you do need to show this kid up, look to something simple such as a keycard trick, which combines some of the power of both the force and the control and, surprisingly, many semi-knowledgeable laypeople never suspect it.

just like everyone is saying to ignore him, i believe this is definetely the best thing to do. Maybe learn some false shuffles so he won't even think that u have a pinky break ( which u wont ). Or tell him that u like to stick your pinky in the deck because it's easy to cut the deck like that. or what i would do is be doing magic when he is around , and get a pinky break between the deck on a card that u dont even know, have his selection on top, and when he points out that there is a break, tell him the cut excuse and when he asks to see the break, show him that his card isnt ne where even close to there. That will make him feel like an idiot, and hopefully u'll have a good excuse if they catch u with a pinky break.

I had a situation where I was doing some magic for a few teenagers. One of the kids started getting annoying, you know: "I saw that, I know how you did that" etc. I handed him the deck and said, "okay, do some magic".....and walked away immediately to go do something else! He played with the cards for a few moments and tried to joke it off in front of his friends.....whose point of interest and entertainment had just walked away because of him. A few minutes later, his friends found me, returned the deck and asked if I would do another trick. I did. (kid wasn't around) Later that night I saw them all at Burger King waiting in line, the annoyance himself asked if I would do another trick.......even though I thought he might have learned the lesson, I declined, having learned the lesson of audience selection. Later on I realized that I was glad for the experience. If you think someone is being a jerk to you, chances are the other people around do too......USE THAT!

Yeh, this kid at my school is kinda the same, but he skips the threats, and goes strait to the exposure. But the great thing about my tricks, is that I try to pick tricks with an alternative (although it might be a little harder). So I usually do the alternative way, and leave him stunned.

It is great to have alternatives, and that is the only way I go. Even with gimmics, I always try to find an other way to do it.

Being the sort of guy I am, how I would deal with it is not to perform to him anymore. Secondly, if I did perform to someone and he came along and exposed it, I would take him aside after the performance and ask him why he feels it necessary to ruin the trick both for the magician and the audience. Start to give him a list of options like that it makes him feel better about himself, that he is jealous, that he wants free gum etc. in order to make it easier for him to answer.

Try to keep your tone informal yet stern, and definitely don't lose your cool. If he can make you get upset then this will fuel his trick-wrecking.

If the guy start attacking you, either with words or violence, you know you have a troublemaker and you might have to result in not even bringing a trick close to his proximity.

If he 'fesses and says that he felt it necessary to expose the tricks because he is jealous, for example, then you could point him in the direction of a good magic shop, so that he can now do tricks and won't want to expose them since he paid for them. And hopefully he will respect others.

If he says that he is doing it to get free gum, you could use rhetoric: "You think that ruining an effect, both for the magician and dozens of spectators, who want to be entertained, is worth it in order to satisfy your own selfish needs for a couple of minutes with 10¢ worth of chewing gum?" At least you can make him mentally question his motives to expose your tricks.

The key thing is not to make this guy angry. You don't want to elevate yourself above him or insult him because it will make him feel insecure and give him more desire to expose tricks. What you must aim to do is teach him: teach him that revealing tricks has no point, trying to ruin other peoples' image is not cool and lowers their social status, and that gum is inexpensive and he does not have to try and get it for free.

NOTE: this is merely a guide and can not be used in all situations. Hopefully it will help you but you may have to change it to make it work.

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